The Washington Nationals of the 1870s were the first important baseball club in the capital city of the United States. They competed briefly in the

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...

(commonly referred to as the National Association), the first fully-professional sports league in baseball. The Nationals are considered a major-league team by those who count the

National Association as a major league The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...

. Several other baseball clubs based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, have also used the historic name ''Nationals''. The team played their home games at the Nationals Grounds and the Olympics Grounds. They joined the National Association in 1872, playing 11 games that year, and 39 more games in 1873, although some sources recognize the 1873 team as a different franchise named the Washington Blue Legs. Following poor on-field results over that period, that team disbanded after the 1873 season. Another Nationals team was fielded with some of the same players for the 1875 season, but folded before the end of the season.

Pre-NA

The first team in Washington, the Potomac Club, was formed in the summer of 1859, and the Nationals were formed in November of the same year; both teams consisted mostly of government clerks. The two teams practiced in the backyard of the White House and played each other in the spring of 1860; the Nationals consistently lost to the superior Potomacs, but the latter disbanded on the outbreak of the Civil War while the Nationals kept playing, and by the end of the war were "solidly in the esteem of Washington fans, with the club's shortstop, slight, 23-year-old Arthur Pue Gorman, the darling of the spectators. Young Gorman quickly rose to stardom on the not-too-brilliant Nationals." (Gorman later became a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and a power in the Democratic Party in the late 19th century). In the summer of 1865 the Nationals invited the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

and Brooklyn Atlantics, two of the major teams of the era, to Washington, losing to the former 87–12 and to the latter 34–19, before 6,000 spectators, including President

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

. They "jealously guarded their amateur status by refusing all payments, including travel expenses." By 1867, the Nationals were much improved, and the new national network of railroads prompted them "to do the previously unthinkable by becoming the first Eastern team to venture west of the Alleghenies." They defeated the best the locals had to offer, crushing Columbus 90–10, the

Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867� ...

53–10, and the Cincinnati Buckeyes 88–12, beating Louisville, Indianapolis, and St. Louis as well before falling to the

Rockford Forest Citys Rockford Forest Citys (officially the Forest City Club), from Rockford, Illinois, was one of the first professional baseball clubs. Rockford played for one season during the National Association inaugural year of . They are not to be confused w ...

(with future Hall of Famer

Albert Spalding Albert Goodwill Spalding (September 2, 1849 – September 9, 1915) was an American pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of the Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raised i ...

) 29–23. The Nats ended the road trip the next day by beating the Chicago Excelsiors 49–4. The "considerable expenses" of the tour were made possible by generous sponsors and "by the indulgence of the Treasury Department." Washington was one of the early homes of commercialism:

One writer, Thomas Henry, said the U. S. Treasury Department was "the real birthplace of professional base ball in Washington." As a source of patronage for good players, this department was widely exploited after the Civil War. In addition, Washington players benefited from the collection plates passed at games. By this kind of enterprise Washington clubs were able to keep a cadre of good players and to offer excellent accommodations. In 1867 the Nationals' park was located on a field four hundred feet square, surrounded by a ten foot fence, and shaded on the north side by roofed stands. To discourage gamblers, a sign which read "Betting Positively Prohibited" was posted.

1872

The 1872 Nationals home games were played at Olympics Grounds in

They lost all 11 games before going out of business. The

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

for this season is listed as either Warren White or Joe Miller. The team's leading players include: 1B

Paul Hines Paul Aloysius Hines (March 1, 1855 – July 10, 1935) was an American center fielder in professional baseball who played in the National Association and Major League Baseball from 1872 to 1891. Born in Virginia, he is credited with winning base ...

, 2B

Holly Hollingshead John Samuel "Holly" Hollingshead (January 17, 1853 – October 6, 1926) was an American baseball player who was a center fielder, second baseman, and manager in Major League Baseball in the 19th century. Life Hollingshead played for the Wa ...

, and SS

Jacob Doyle Jacob Dixon Doyle (November 26, 1855 – August 15, 1941) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop who played for the Washington Nationals of the National Association, the first professional league. He was born in Leesburg, Virginia. In ...

1873

They won 8 games and lost 31. The Blue Legs were managed by Nick Young. Their top hitter was

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

, who went 60-for-181, a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .331.

1875

Although there isn't a firm consensus on whether the 1875 Washington team was the same franchise as the 1872 one, the team fielded for this season fared better, as they won 5 games and lost 23. Hollingshead was again their top hitting regular, though with a much lower

of .247. He was also one of the club's

managers Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administr ...

, along with

Bill Parks William Robert Parks (June 4, 1849 – October 10, 1911) was an American left fielder, pitcher, and manager in Major League Baseball from Easton, Pennsylvania. A native of Easton, Pennsylvania, Parks played for the Washington Nationals and Phila ...

. The Washingtons went out of business in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, after playing the local Red Stockings on July 3 and July 4. Next day the players announced by telegraph that a club official had absconded with the funds but (Ryczek 1992: 194) concludes that "the tale had been planted by the players in an effort to find enough good samaritans to foot the bill for the trip home". The club probably failed by "unappealing play" and consequent receipts too small to support travel. On the final trip, they lost two in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and five of six in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. The final game was a 12–5 victory but the two local teams outscored Washington 42–5 in the first five games, which must have been repelling.

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

or July 4 was a vital date for all ballclubs that played for paying customers. In 1875, it fell on Sunday, when many people resisted commercial baseball and most locales outlawed it. The Red Stockings – Washington game was the only NA game played that day. The Brown Stockings and White Stockings played on Saturday in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and on Monday in St. Louis.

Notes

References

External links

Baseball Reference team index
{{Authority control 1873 disestablishments in the United States National Association of Professional Base Ball Players teams National Association of Base Ball Players teams Baseball teams established in 1859 Organizations disestablished in 1872 Defunct baseball teams in Washington, D.C. Baseball teams disestablished in 1973